Complete Results

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (csssaints.com) – Senior Chelsea Johnson (North Branch, Minn./Chisago Lakes HS) won her fifth straight race and her seventh this season, setting a new single-season program record for wins in leading the St. Scholastica women's cross country team to a fifth place finish at the NCAA Division III Central Region Championships on Saturday at St. Olaf College.

Johnson led wire-to-wire once again and finished with a winning time of 21:10.99. She beat the rest of the field by 20 seconds to capture the region title. She is the first Saint to win a NCAA Region Championship in program history. Johnson will be one of the favorites at next weekend's NCAA Division III Championship in Indiana.

The Saints as a team were also trying to qualify for nationals for the second time in program history. The top two teams from each of the eight region championships would automatically qualify for the next Saturday's championships.

The projected top two teams Wartburg College (Iowa) and Carleton College finished first and second with 86 points and 104 points, respectively. The host, St. Olaf College, took third with 131 points. Luther College (Iowa) snuck up to take fourth with 166 points and the Saints came in fifth with 184 points.

Joining Johnson in earning all-region accolades were sophomores Andrea Mogren (Forest Lake, Minn./Forest Lake HS) and Liz Braml (Turtle Lake, Wis./Turtle Lake HS), who placed 33rd and 34th, respectively. Mogren posted a time of 23:31 and Braml was one second behind her.

Freshman Jordan Johnson (Poplar, Wis./Northwestern HS) was the fourth Saint to cross the finish line with a time of 23:54 which put her 55th overall. The final Saint to score was sophomore Nikki Roach (Hermantown, Minn./Hermantown HS/Home School) in 61st with a personal-best time of 23:57.

Molly Burgstahler (Sandpoint, Idaho/Sandpoint HS) came home in 116th place with a time of 24:54 and Taylor Gibson (La Crescent, Minn./La Crescent HS) was 122nd with a time of 24:59.

By coming in fifth as a team, the Saints will have to wait and see if they qualify for one of the 16 at-large bid up for grabs. NCAA.com will post the team and individual qualifiers tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m.